Just back (9/24/01) - Some Notes (including "One Man's Dream")

[jlpoirrier]

I just returned from a wonderful weekend, and there are a couple of things I thought everyone might be interested in hearing about and discussing.


Attendance:
Well, it may have been a ghost town in the past couple of weeks, but it was anything but this Saturday - particularly at MK. What’s worse, due to Disney not anticipating a large crowd, (obvious since they closed MK an hour early) there were substantial lines at just about every attraction in the morning (when we left for the less-crowded Epcot) and then in the evening when we returned.


MK:
In addition to the crowds, they closed the PeopleMover at 5:00pm (according to the cast member ‘because they were told to’). Has anyone heard anything about this? I thought it was rather odd – particularly since the crowds were fairly heavy for this time of year.

As previously reported, TimeKeeper is again closed.


MGM:
I don’t know if it’s been discussed before, or maybe they were just having some problems at WWTBAM, but they didn’t show the Regis clip in the beginning – have they done away with this? Anyone know if they still awarding a trip to NY for 1,000,000-point winners?

On Sunday morning, they had a soft opening of “One Man’s Dream” and I must say, I was very impressed. This was certainly the highlight of the weekend. I'll give just a quick overview so as not to spoil it for anyone, there are two display rooms and then a 16 minute movie shown in a theater at the end. The first room is early artifacts, photos and quotes from Walt (which we were unfortunately rushed through a bit.). The second room deals mostly with the parks and their development. They had quite a number of models of attractions, which I though were great – including one from Disney Sea!!! I need to get to Tokyo. The film, hosted by Michael Eisner was a real treat. I’d braced myself for some shameless self promotion (“… and these are all available from Buena Vista Home Entertainment on video or DVD”) but there was none to be found - it was truly a nice tribute to Walt. My favorite part was the cast members. On a couple of occasions, they came up to us and shared some interesting anecdotes: including the ‘Killer Kangaroos” on the Tree Of Live model, a hidden Mickey from the Disney Sea one (see if you can find it!), and some interesting information about the Disney Cruise line. I’m not sure if they plan to continue this, since there were a number of execs lurking around to see how things were going, but I sure hope they do.


Epcot:
There is a neat-looking tarp type thing and temporary wall up around the northern part of the Italy pavilion – are they just painting it?

The Fountain has been filled and turned back on again - I'd really missed it! It doesn't look like anything has changed with it, so it must have been either a simple rehab or a water conservation measure.


Around The World:
There’s some construction going on at what appears to be the parking lot behind World Of Disney – I hadn’t heard anything about that, so I thought I’d mention it.

Also, there’s a new road being cleared just North, I believe, of the Caribbean Beach Resort. I just caught it out of the corner of my eye, but I seem to recall it saying ‘Bonnet Creek Resort’ or something along those lines. I’m sure this is the Eagle Pies DVC resort they announced, since Eagle Pines is at Bonnet Creek – I just thought it was interesting the road has been cleared and that the name on the sign isn’t Eagle Pines.


That’s about it. I’m sure you’re wondering who I am since I’m not a frequent poster. I’ve read this board for some years now and find it to be a great resource – I just wanted to ‘give a little back’ so to speak. If anyone has any other questions, I’d be happy to try and answer them.

 

[jlpoirrier]

The only mention that I saw of Halmark was on the sign at the entrance (below 'One Man's Dream' - very small and unobtrusive – check out http://www.wdwmagic.com for pictures). There wasn't a 'commercial' for Halmark or even any mention of them in the film (Although, if it was done like Kodak's True Colors before HISTA, I don't think I'd have complained.) I actually found it surprisingly non-commercial. If anything at all, there was a very soft sell. For example, they have a small display about Disney Cruise Lines, which I think fits the exhibit well and really enjoyed - it’s interesting to see all these different things that 'started with a mouse.' Although after seeing pictures of the ships and a model of Castaway Cay I want to book a cruise with them, there's no 800 numbers, Web site URLs, brochures or anything like that to be found.

Although I try to find the good in things and am not overly cynical, I am the first to note when things like marketing and budget cuts effect an attraction or exhibit (JIYI). Overall, I think this is a well though out, well executed tribute to Walt, and I hope others enjoy it as much as I did. Although I wouldn’t book a cross-country trip just to see this, I think this compliments the ‘100 Years Of Magic’ celebration nicely and greatly prefer it to the adding a couple parades. My only complaint would have been I'd like to have seen more - the whole exhibit would probably have taken me an hour or so to fully enjoy everything. Having said that, I think they has struck a nice balance between presenting some wonderful Disney artifacts that the true fans will enjoy without losing the attention of the more casual guests. Pesonally, I’d ALWAYS like to see more - but that's just me!

 

[Safari Steve]

TTA must be stopped if a guest stands up a second time after being warned. Sometimes that takes a while, and depending on if there were any injuries or other situations involved, it could result in the attraction being closed for several hours. Also, they may not have had enough CMs to run TTA (because of too many call-ins, scheduling problems, and the hours suspension for all part time and seasonal CMs)... TTA is a low-priority attraction, and it may have been closed so that Space Mt, Buzz, or even Astro Orbiter could be kept open.

They're just repainting the Pallace of Doge', I like the way they printed a color elevation of the building on the tarp. It's much less obtrusive than seeing scaffolding. So much so that I was almost unable to tell the difference from across the lagoon.

The road is an extension of Bonnet Creek Rd. that will give access to the Pop! Century resort.

The East entrance to Downtown Disney Marketplace has been closed since late summer. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but it may be the addition of a more pedestrian-friendly cross-walk like those recently added to Hotel Plaza Blvd.

 

[wdwguide]

jlpoirrier and Safari Steve,

Thanks a lot for the updates! I can't wait to see "One Man's Dream".

 

[Quentin Disney]

Originally posted by jlpoirrier

There’s some construction going on at what appears to be the parking lot behind World Of Disney – I hadn’t heard anything about that, so I thought I’d mention it.

Last week, me and my friend were down at DTD for the pin event, and he assumes they are building that "space-shot" attraction. Jim Hill had something to say about it in an Orlando Weekly article.

I'm not the one to say it will happen, but I have seen that area boarded up since mid-August. Could it be?

 

[mikifan]

Thanks for the update on,"One Man's Dream." This is one of the things we have been looking forward to on our next trip in November. Happy to hear a good report.
Jeff

 

[anim8or98]

The construction at Downtown Disney is for the new Toy Store sponsored by Hasbro. It will be pretty huge and the facade will contain Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and a giant Genie from Aladdin. That entrance from Hotel Row has no plans of reopening.

 

[annew]

We are going this weekend. How was security? ARe they still checking bags?

 

[jlpoirrier]

They were still checking bags as of Staurday 9/22 and Sunday 9/23. I found it odd that they checked small camera bags and sunglass cases if people had them in their hand, but I carried mine in my pocket without a problem. I realize that the idea is prevention, but with such simple measures, if someone really wants to get something into the park they'll find a way.